Good IR receiver for HTPC?

[sfryman]

I'm planning an HTPC build. I was planning to go with Vista for the OS, but that's not written in stone. Any suggestions on the best HTPC remote control method?


Some of the options I've been thinking about:

Antec Black Aluminum / Steel Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - $160
This case has a built-in IR receiver, but it's a little big for my taste. I was planning to buy a smaller case, and I don't know of any w/ built-in IR receiver.

Antec Mult-Station Elite Internal IR receiver w/ VFD and remote - $85
Fits into an external 5.25" drive bay. Awfully pricey. This is more than some of the HTPC cases I've been looking at.

Antec Mult-Station Basic Internal IR receiver and remote - $37
IR receiver mounts in external 3.5" drive bay. Better price, and it claims to be able to power on the PC via remote.

Anyware GP-IR02BK Vista 2 channel IR Remote Control - $27
USB with some sort of external dongle? Even lower price, but haven't heard of the manufacturer. Won't use up a precious drive bay, but I'd rather have something that's integrated into the case. I could mod the case I guess. Maybe this is all I need? I just want to be able to control media center from the Harmony...

I have a Logitech Harmony One universal remote I was planning to use to control the HTPC, at least for media center. I'm assuming that I will be able to program the Harmony to work w/ any of the above options (I have no intention of using any of the included remotes). What do other people use, and what do they like? I've been looking on newegg primarily, but maybe you guys can point me somewhere else.


Thanks

 

[stevenyoder23]

i've got the elite internal and it's pretty good. I think they must have updated some aspects of it b/c i'm not experiencing most of the problems listed on newegg's reviews. The one major downer is battery life. only uses two trip a's so changing out all the time. also when batteries get low pc gets erratic. acts like it's recieving a signal when it's not gets irritating until you take out the batteries. overall i like it though it's fairly expensive. you can change the default program for the go button and there's several other nice features. have had it for 3 months and no problems yet. would buy again.
hope this helps -steve
-just noticed you're not planning on using the remote so i guess the bat. thing won't affect you then -good luck